Thanks, that just adds to the meat I have against using M$ products...people still wonder why I hate M$ with such a passion! I've even come to the point of barely being able to stand using the products they discust me so much!_________________M$ Windows: When in doubt, REBOOT
Linux: When in doubt, RTFM

I played a lot of Unreal Tournament during the last few months, and now whenever I think of Bill Gates he's headless, and I hear a voice saying "Head shot!". The other recurring image is where I'm a counter-terrorist sent in to Redmond to eliminate Microsoft... How's that for hatred with a passion?

there's a pretty simple fix though. if you don't like it, don't use it. sure, gates may have some cut-throat business tactics and a sub-par OS with revamped legacy code. and sure, msft may not have actually created anything with their name on it, but so what?

let bill gates do whatever the hell he wants.

you've got gentoo. life is good._________________I used gentoo BEFORE it was cool.

Except that Bill and friends want to take that away from you. We need to be proactive about the threat that MS poses to Linux because they would gladly take away your ability to use your computer as you see fit if they thought it would make a few more dollars.

That said, I don't hate Microsoft or the products just because they are Microsoft. I do hate their business practices because I think that they make things unfair for competitors and even threaten to remove our ability to run Linux (for example) on consumer-level hardware. I think that the anti-trust thing needs to happen in order to ensure that Microsoft cannot stifle emerging, potentially competitive technologies. After that, we should just let them be and let Linux stand on its own merits. Everyone wins with more competition because it not only allows more freedom of choice, but also forces Microsoft to improve their own products and keep their prices reasonable.

I'll respect Microsoft's right to do what they want when they start respecting my right to do what I want.

Right, right. If you take what I said in the context of the frustration I've felt at what Microsoft is doing now and the fear of what they might do to computing over the next few years, I don't think it would be that unreasonable.

sounds like you guys need help....there's a pretty simple fix though. if you don't like it, don't use it.

I am concerned about the fact that proprietary document formats (MS-word, Excel, MSHTML) are considered acceptable archival and exchange formats. I don't care what application someone uses to create or edit a document, but I am offended when they presume that I will make the same choice. I think that proprietary storage formats are incredibly insidious, because they mean that the author no longer controls their document. The tollbooth company can extort money from document authors simply for them to access their own documents.

I am completely incredulous that anybody continues to allow themselves to be blackmailed in this manner._________________For every higher wall, there is a taller ladder